Write a letter and avoid high student debt!

UPDATE: No votes have been cast yet! So you can still send your call to Anne-Wil Duthler, so do so soon!

Retrieved from 27 May (next Monday!), the Senate will vote on the controversial proposal to raise interest rates on student debt. This is the last chance to prevent student debts from rising by thousands of euros per student. GroenLinks and other youth organisations already took action against this proposal by setting up a petition. But politics is divided: we expect the 37 MPs from the coalition to vote in favour and 37 MPs from the opposition to vote against. The decisive vote will then come from Anne-Wil Duthler, who quit the VVD party a few weeks ago and is now steering her own course. That is why two students, Rebecca and Geertje, came up with an idea that DWARS is happy to lend a hand with: We would ask Anne-Wil Duthler en masse to vote against this proposal. You can help by sending her a message too. In fact, a sample letter has already been written. You can find the sample letter below, and here you can make your appeal to Anne-Wil Duthler. Will you help? Together we are strong!

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear Ms Dr Duthler,

I would like to ask you, in the interest of students who will be studying from 1 January 2020, to use your vote in favour of students and vote against on Tuesday 28 May regarding the increase in the interest rate measure on the higher education loan.

Students now graduate with an average student debt of €21,000, which is expected to rise in the coming years.

The NVVK has also noticed a sharp rise in students with problematic debts since the introduction of the student loan system.

An increase from the 5-year rate to the 10-year rate would lead to thousands of euros of extra repayment for an average student debt, which could also have major negative economic and social consequences in the long run that would benefit no one. All this in addition to the fact that it could have a deterrent effect to study and put the accessibility of higher education and student welfare at risk.

Hopefully, prospective students can count on your support and you will vote against the increase in the interest rate measure on higher education student loans on Tuesday, May 28.

Sincerely,